Ask Don McLean about the meaning of his 1971 classic “American Pie” and he’ll tell you: “It means I’ll never have to work again.” It’s one of the most enigmatic anthems in pop history, and the significance of the song that variously references God, Satan, a thieving jester, a king, a queen and a marching band has, for the most part, been cloaked in mystery. Appearing on the album of the same name and clocking an unusually lengthy eight minutes and 33 seconds, “American Pie” seemed to capture a pivotal moment of change during which America lost its innocence. Over the decades, scores of critics and fans have applied their own interpretations, devoting entire books and websites to analysing the lyrics.
In 2015, McLean finally yielded — but only a bit. The original manuscript, which included handwritten notes and typed drafts that showed him rearranging and refining the lyrics, went on sale at Christie’s in New York, fetching $1.2m. In an interview in the auction catalogue, McLean said, “Basically in ‘American Pie’ things are headed in the wrong direction. It is becoming less idyllic. I don’t know whether you consider that wrong or right, but it is a morality song, in a sense.”
McLean also conceded that the initial inspiration was the 1959 plane crash in Iowa that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper — hence the repeated refrain “the day the music died” — though on such details as the identity of the jester (widely assumed to be Bob Dylan) or the king and queen (possibly Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, or JFK and Jackie Kennedy), he has kept schtum.
What is known is that McLean took several months to write the song, though the first verse came fully formed while he was living in a gatehouse in Cold Spring, New York. A protégé of Seeger’s, McLean until that point was known mostly on the New York folk circuit. For its release as a single in 1972, his record label decided to slice the song into two parts, since there wasn’t enough room for it on one side of a 45. Dismayed radio DJs elected to play the album version instead and the song went to the top of the Billboard charts, turning McLean into an overnight star.
With the exception of the American jazz organist Richard “Groove” Holmes, who recorded a woozy instrumental version in 1972, artists took their sweet time covering “American Pie”, perhaps daunted by its length. The hard rock band Killdozer gave it a gritty, guitar-heavy makeover on their 1989 LP For Ladies Only, while in 1999, New Jersey’s Catch 22 gave it a resoundingly awful ska treatment. In fact 1999 would prove quite the bonanza for McLean, who had wisely retained all his publishing rights. As well as signing off on a “Weird Al” Yankovic spoof called “The Saga Begins”, which compressed the plot of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace as told by Obi-Wan Kenobi (“Oh my my, this here Anakin guy/ Maybe Vader someday later — now he’s just a small fry”), he also licensed the song’s title for a smutty teen sex comedy that would be a box office smash, going on to spawn three sequels and assorted straight-to-DVD spin-offs.
The first truly high-profile cover came in 2000 courtesy of Madonna, who drafted in producer William Orbit to apply his trademark retro-techno sheen. It was initially recorded for the soundtrack to the film The Next Best Thing, in which Madonna co-starred with Rupert Everett, but was subsequently released as a single. Pared back to a manageable four minutes, and accompanied by a video in which the Queen of Pop danced in front of a tatty American flag in a prom queen tiara, the song went to number one in the UK singles charts (it peaked at a more modest number 29 in America). The movie nonetheless bombed and Madonna’s “American Pie” was voted music’s worst ever cover version in a poll by the radio station BBC6 Music. McLean’s response to the cover was typically oblique: “I have received many gifts from God,” he said, “but this is the first time I’ve received a gift from a goddess.”
What are your memories of ‘American Pie’? What do its lyrics mean to you? Let us know in the comments section below.
‘The Life of a Song Volume 2: The fascinating stories behind 50 more of the world’s best-loved songs’, edited by David Cheal and Jan Dalley, is published by Brewer’s.
Music credits: EMI Catalogue (USA); Unidisc Music Inc; Victory; Volcano/Legacy; Warner Bros
Picture credit: Tony Russell/Redferns